Roald Dahl in Stop Motion

I once knew a guy from California that introduced me to a variety of subjects as a teenager that I, in my presence, still occasionally indulge. These subjects range from longboarding, Bob Dylan, Surf Rock guitar, Red Stripe, and Rushmore (and ultimately, Wes Anderson [new film above]).

His west coast attitude must have impacted me considerably because after graduation, I planned a road trip with a couple of buddies across the country. Oceans Atlantic to Oceans Pacific. Patriots to Dudes. Coal Minors to Gold Minors.

This trip never happened because the night before we were to leave my one buddy smashed his head against the pavement while skating like Michael J. Fox behind a sedan. The concussion allocated my savings towards a single semester of schooling the following fall.

Such an opportunity to travel the countryside has yet to arise ever since, but my bucket list is always expanding.


Coming soon...My Bucket List

Duder

I think I've seen them all, does that make me a bad person...or just well versed?

High Brow Cinema

Dash Snow

Dash Snow was one of the few modern artists alive that I found interesting... and now he's dead. I first heard of Dash Snow while reading this article in New York Magazine over two years ago. The article is great, I think you should read it. The journalist seems to be part of the story while researching of Andy's Children.

Dash Snow seemed like he belonged as a character in the movie "KIDS." A New York City delinquent, wild, and spontaneous. Spraypaint and Polaroids were his weapons of choice. I figured I'd introduce you to him if you'd never heard of him. Read the NYmag article. Here's an excellent collection of his work. RIP.

They're Out to Get You!

Robots will be the death of us all. The Grey Lady told me the other day that "Associations" were meeting about how to keep the robots chill and not hypertechnological, homicidal, brain-sucking, man-eaters.

The researchers — leading computer scientists, artificial intelligence researchers and roboticists who met at the Asilomar Conference Grounds on Monterey Bay in California — generally discounted the possibility of highly centralized superintelligences and the idea that intelligence might spring spontaneously from the Internet. But they agreed that robots that can kill autonomously are either already here or will be soon...

The idea of an “intelligence explosion” in which smart machines would design even more intelligent machines was proposed by the mathematician I. J. Good in 1965. Later, in lectures and science fiction novels, the computer scientist Vernor Vinge popularized the notion of a moment when humans will create smarter-than-human machines, causing such rapid change that the “human era will be ended.” He called this shift the Singularity...

Tom Mitchell, a professor of artificial intelligence and machine learning at Carnegie Mellon University, said the February meeting had changed his thinking. “I went in very optimistic about the future of A.I. and thinking that Bill Joy and Ray Kurzweil were far off in their predictions,” he said. But, he added, “The meeting made me want to be more outspoken about these issues and in particular be outspoken about the vast amounts of data collected about our personal lives.”

(read entire article)

It doesn't seem like this information is out of the ordinary, the idea that machines will take over man. But it does seem somewhat eerie... and seemingly inevitable.

Good news for people who like good news

A morning of depressing news, but an upbeat story to end the day

Desperately Seeking Stephanie By AMY VIRSHUP, NYTIMES

At one point during Monday night’s Green Day show at Madison Square Garden, Billie Joe Armstrong announced that he needed someone on stage who could play the guitar. And not just for a “three-chord song,” he added, “for one with four, five, maybe six chords” — “Jesus of Suburbia.” After rejecting a few wannabes he stopped and asked a girl in the mosh pit if she knew how to play, then looked unconvinced when she said she did. “What key is it in?” he asked. Seemingly satisfied with her answer (it’s somewhat complicated, but for the sake of brevity, let’s say the correct response is C sharp major) he pulled her up onto the stage. The girl — her name later was revealed to be Stephanie — was wearing jeans shorts, a torn Misfits t-shirt, and a head scarf over her pigtails. Mr. Armstrong handed her the guitar, conferred with her briefly, then let her sit on an amp to get started. And then she…ripped! A few bars in she was wandering the stage like a pro and when Mr. Armstrong introduced her at the end, the crowd was shouting “Ste-pha-nie! Ste-pha-nie!” in appreciation.

Stephanie was last seen heading down Tower A after the show, a pair of Tre Cool’s drumsticks in one hand, her cell phone in the other, a chant of “Ste-pha-nie!” breaking out from those who spotted her in the crowd.

Update: Stephanie has posted a comment: “Hi, I’m Stephanie and this is just incredible. Thank you so much. I still can’t get over this experience.”

I Read The News Today

Below please find a consolidated compendium of the most especially horrible things I've learned about this morning, ordered from least to most upsetting. Links to original source material provided. Not for the faint of heart.

1. Jesus appeared to him in the form of the president of U.S. Steel, who told him to gather “key men”—prominent businessmen and political leaders—to beat back the unions in His name. Instead of ministering to the down-and-out, Jesus wanted believers to tend to the “up-and-out”—members of America’s elite who lacked intimacy with Jesus. Free-market capitalism is divinely ordained, and unions and regulations are a form of blasphemy.

The Washington-based group counts many prominent politicians, mostly conservative Republicans, among its flock... there are Family “prayer cells” in many federal agencies, including the Pentagon and the Justice Department.


2. Marquez was the first in his brigade to kill someone after an Iraq tour. In 2006, he used a stun gun to shock a drug dealer in Widefield, Colo., in a dispute over a marijuana sale, then shot and killed him...

"If I was just a guy off the street, I might have hesitated to shoot," Marquez told The Gazette in the Bent County Correctional Facility, where he is serving a 30-year prison term. "But after Iraq, it was just natural."

The Army trains soldiers to be that way, said Kenneth Eastridge, an infantry specialist serving 10 years for accessory to murder.

"The Army pounds it into your head until it is instinct: Kill everybody, kill everybody," he said. "And you do. Then they just think you can just come home and turn it off."


3. BMEzine's Shannon Larratt has given us exclusive photos of "FK", otherwise known as The Indestructible Man. Due to an abnormally well-developed immune system, he is able to push the limits of "if it feels good, do it" farther than most. "Obviously it hurts, but this sort of pain excites me greatly."



4. Sanchez, 33, apparently ate the child's brain and some other body parts before stabbing herself, McManus said. "It's too heinous for me to describe it any further," McManus told reporters.

To be something on . . .

don't know how many this may interest, but Sunny Day Real Estate (how appropriate) is on its way back. unfortunately, i'll miss the closest date here, but Jeremy Enigk & Co. were old favorites of mine — and last night, dust and all, i remembered why. 'twas some of the most genuinely passionate, actively crafted music i've involved myself with. Seattle's HeyDay. Punk Rock Music. When the Kids Were Serious.

press below, dates here.

SCHEDULED FOR FALL 2009
Sub Pop to Reissue Diary & LP2 on September 15th

Following a more than 10 year hiatus, all four original members of pioneering Seattle rock band Sunny Day Real Estate will regroup for a 20-date US tour starting Sept. 17th, 2009. In addition, Sub Pop Records will re-issue both Diary and the band’s second full-length album, commonly known as LP2 (or “The Pink Album” for its entirely pink cover). Both re-mastered albums will include rare bonus tracks as well as newly written liner notes and will be released on both CD and LP Sept. 15, 2009, just prior to the start of the tour.

Giiiiiit thuuu fuck out of my way. I'm carrying a big ass silvery wind turbine blade so we can have cleaner energy you fucking assholes.

I Wouldn't Be Caught Dead Wearing That

Barneys NY removes ‘blood-spattered’ window display
By the Associated Press Wednesday, July 22, 2009, 09:11 AM

The luxury retailer Barneys New York has removed a window display that made it appear blood-spattered mannequins were fending off attackers.

Creative director Simon Doonan says it was installed in a vestibule window at the Manhattan store while he was away on business. He had it removed after an inquiry from the New York Daily News.

Doonan said he encourages creativity, but “this clearly crossed the line.”

The weird window display left some shoppers puzzled and others appalled.

A few shrugged off the edgy art in typical New York fashion. Says Joyce Sanders of Harlem: “I watch a lot of ‘CSI.’”

Returning some video tapes....

I'm not sure how I feel about this music video tribute to American Psycho and the Talking Heads, but I thought it was worth posting. NSFW-ish.

Yes He Can!

Summer of Love/Triumph

(1994 Newspaper column written by once and former PTIPS contributor, may he rest in peace)

When The Moon Was In The Seventh House, And Man Was on The Moon

By DALTON FLEMING

This week we observed the 25th anniversary of man's first landing on the moon. Next month, we will mark another quarter-century anniversary -- that of the Woodstock music festival.

It was in the summer of 1969 that the Age of Apollo and the Age of Aquarius intersected in what could only in retrospect be viewed as a harmonic convergence. After all, the two events and the persons involved in them could hardly have been more divergent.

One was a triumph of diligence, technology and daring that gave America the victory in a hard-fought Cold War competition and made suddenly possible a life among the stars. The other was a similarly implausible triumph of a spontaneous spirit of generosity that slipped the bonds of convention and launched hopes of a Utopian future on Earth.

As different as the two events may have been, the visions they represented briefly united two generations of dreamers who, entirely independent of one another, set their sights on the common goal of a better future. Ultimately, both visions were grounded in a harsh reality that dictated neither would be quite the giant leap for mankind its participants imagined.

The best way to commemorate those events is to remember what about them inspired us and made us believe all they symbolized was not only possible, but within our easy reach.

Of the two events, I identify most closely with Woodstock, if only because the awesome spectacle of manned space exploration remains for me a miracle of technology beyond my comprehension. Music as an expression of freedom and brotherly love is a concept much easier for me to fathom.

I was, nevertheless, part of the global village that sat mesmerized in front of a television when cameras beamed the historic images back to Earth as Neil Armstrong climbed onto the lunar surface in an act that somehow changed everything. I remember thinking that if I walked outside and gazed up at the moon, it would no longer look the same. I'm not sure it ever did.

If, as a teenager, I was already brought to the verge of cynicism by other events of the day -- assassinations, an unpopular war, racial strife -- the lunar landing for a time forestalled my pessimism about man's fate. Like most of my generation, I also witnessed Woodstock from afar -- on a movie screen. Still, the essence of what transpired was nearly as awe-inspiring as Apollo 11's trip to the moon.

A half-million people assembled for three days in a makeshift community celebrating peace and love while the politics of war and hate that ravaged our society seemed a planet away. In subsequent viewings of the Woodstock documentary, I am always transported to a place where rage and tyranny are nonexistent and hope prevails.

The Woodstock dream was declared officially shattered by year's end when another gathering of young people culminated in chaos and murder. Future developments paved the way for an era of self-centeredness and greed. For me, disillusionment came in personal experiences that made me realize my generation would not be better than the one before it simply because we wished it to be.

Still, among many individuals of that generation, a glowing ember of idealism endures, awaiting the spark of some social ill to inflame our passions again in a common cause.

Manned space exploration has continued through adversity and tragedy, but many of its once limitless possibilities are unrealized and its future is in doubt. It's not only the financial wherewithal we seem to lack, but the resolve to reach for the stars when there are so many challenges unmet here at home.

Yet, it is fitting to look for inspiration to a time when all things seemed possible, and to mark these anniversaries as people united not in failure, but in our striving. Our stride may have been shortened, but we continue to take the steps that will eventually carry us to our destination as long as we don't abandon the journey.

The Armpit Collection XXII: How Are Things In Blogga Morra?

Sonny Rollins had a mohawk.

Sonny's Rollin Bag strikes back. Blue Note granted Rollins a few recording dates that resulted in legendary material. They're titled Volume One and Volume Two.

Six Hopeless Images

Courtesy of A.M. (click to enlarge)

Trent's Thoughts: Pay-what-you-want model

This is where you offer tracks or albums for a user-determined price. I hate this concept, and here’s why. Some have argued that giving music away free devalues music. I disagree. Asking people what they think music is worth devalues music. Don’t believe me? Write and record something you really believe is great and release it to the public as a “pay-what-you-think-it’s-worth” model and then let’s talk. Read a BB entry from a “fan” rationalizing why your whole album is worth 50 cents because he only likes 5 songs on it. Trust me on this one - you will be disappointed, disheartened and find yourself resenting a faction of your audience. This is your art! This is your life! It has a value and you the artist are not putting that power in the hands of the audience - doing so creates a dangerous perception issue. If the FEE you are charging is zero, you are not empowering the fan to say this is only worth an insultingly low monetary value. Don’t be misled by Radiohead’s In Rainbows stunt. That works one time for one band once - and you are not Radiohead.

source

In other news, Radiohead just emailed me today and you can buy disc 2 of In Rainbows on their new digital merchandise site here. Six pounds, please!

It's four o'clock and I am at work. I got white-out on my knuckle that goes nicely with the turquoise stone on the opposite knuckle. It is sunny out. I just came in from it and am a little perspired. I was walking around downtown Hagerstown wondering what it was like during the Civil War and if there were any soldiers still hiding out, maybe behind the laundry mat. I didn't see any. Then I saw a slave mother and her two sons but immediately caught myself, realizing it was one hundred and fucking forty four years later. I found debris from the war in a pawn shop the other day which included bullets, belt buckles, and blades, but I bought "Bad to the Bone" George Thoroughgood on film instead and left the war memorabilia for some other buff. It's our claim to fame here...the site of bloody 19th century line up in rows and shoot at each other style civil war. Maybe one day it will be known for something else like music.

That's a Concrete Cold Fact

roddy & co. on world cafe.

Whoever learns to do this first...

...I will put on network TV.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Everyone on YouTube who can do it is from outside the US. Make a video, post it here, and we'll bring you to NYC (if you're not already here) for a chance to be on the show. And you'll get like $800. For real, yo.

Happy 29th Birthday from Bob Dylan

HILARIOUS!

12:34:56 7/8/09

Today at 12:34pm, on the 56 second expect to see a glowing light which is the door to a portal. It's always been my motto to "go into the Light." I'm not sure yet where this portal will lead, but with any luck I'm hoping to to see a dinosaur/dragon before 1pm. Godspeed to each and everyone.

4th

The Armpit Collection XXI: Redemptive Purposes

Miss You Much?

levon's barn produced this?